Jim's Column 30.7.22

The new season kicks off for the Sky Blues tomorrow with a trip to Sunderland's Stadium of Light. It is the first time in their long history that the club have played a competitive game in July. The start of the season has been getting earlier and earlier and has been brought forward a week this year because of the World Cup in November. 100 years or so ago the season wasn't allowed to start until the last Saturday in August because of an agreement with the cricket authorities but gradually the start date has crept forward. The early start would have been unthinkable in the 1950s or 60s when many of the industrial cities and towns of the country closed down their factories for the last week in July and first week in August and workers had no choice but to take their holidays at that time. There would have been some pretty low attendances if games had been played in these two weeks.

During the close season we have lost two of the stalwarts from the Jimmy Hill era, Ronnie Farmer and Jimmy Whitehouse, and my tributes to them can be found at my website (www.jimbrownsjournal.blogspot.co.uk) .

In the last week I have also been made aware that former City goalkeeper Graham Spratt passed away earlier this year. Born six weeks before the outbreak of war in 1939, Graham, who had previously been on Leicester City's books, was signed from Oadby Town as a seventeen-year-old in 1956. He made his debut for the reserves in a 2-2 draw at Swindon in November of that year. His form in the reserves earned him a call-up to the first team at the start of the 1957-58 season and he was praised after an impressive debut in a home 2-2 draw with Watford. It was a miserable season for the club however with a bottom half finish in Division Three South consigning City to the newly formed Division Four. Graham, who at 5 ft 8 ins was short for a goalkeeper, was described as 'the next Reg Matthews in the making' in the Coventry Telegraph and was often the hero for keeping the score down. Despite impressive notices Graham lost his place after a 7-1 thrashing at Southampton at the end of February when Nemo in the Coventry Telegraph described him as 'the star turn' for keeping the score down! Manager Billy Frith felt the youngster needed a break and Graham played just one more first team game, in a 4-1 defeat at Walsall.

That summer Frith signed a new goalkeeper Jim Sanders who managed 10 games before suffering a broken leg. Graham was called up to play against Carlisle and although City lost 2-1 he got positive reviews. Frith however was not convinced and relegated Graham to the reserves, preferring 41-year-old trainer Alf Wood for the next game. Graham was a regular for the reserves for the rest of the season but released by the club the following summer at the tender age of 19 having played 28 league games and two FA Cup ties for the club. After leaving City he played for Rugby Town and became a postman and worked for Royal Mail until his retirement. His daughter Julie tells me that he excelled at most sports and was wicket-keeper for Dunton Bassett cricket team as well as an accomplished bowls player for the Soar Valley club. He lived in Blaby for many years before moving to Mountsorrel in Leicestershire. His wife Sylvia passed away in 1982 and long time partner Thelma passed away four years ago. He leaves two daughters Joanne and Julie. RIP Graham. Sadly Graham was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a number of years ago.

Another former City goalkeeper John Green recently passed away. John never played for the first team but played for the 'A' team in the seasons immediately after World War Two. He was a regular at Diamond Club lunches and often wrote to me with memories of his playing days.

As many of you know I love football books and this summer I have received one of the most interesting ones for a while. Entitled One Shilling (1/-) it is the story of the revolution in football programme design between 1965-85, written by Matthew Caldwell and Alan Dein. As probably the most innovative club of the 1960s under Jimmy Hill, Coventry City feature heavily in the book. Their ground-breaking magazine style programme of 1967-70 was impressive however the award-winning but controversial 1970-71 Sky Blue magazine is given pride of place. The book is dedicated to John Elvin, the man who designed that unique publication. Sadly the club failed to appreciate the quality of Elvin's work and ditched him after one season. Elvin, who had previously worked for West Brom, worked briefly at Chelsea before being diagnosed with Huntington's Disease and dying at the age of 53. If you have an interest in football programmes then the book is a highly recommended read.

If you have a question about the history or statistics of Coventry City please drop me an email at clarriebourton@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @clarriebourton